LITHIUM - THE NEW OIL

ASX: 4CE | FRA: 9S7 | BER: 9S7 | STU: 9S7

Force Commodities Limited (Force or the Company) is a lithium exploration and development focussed company headquartered in Western Australia, with operational and administrative support offices in Lubumbashi and Kitotolo in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC).

Learn more about our projects in our 8-page feature by Michael Washbourne in Australia's Paydirt MagazineClick here to read

We are going to need more lithium...

Starting about two years ago, fears of a lithium shortage almost tripled prices for the metal, to more than $20,000 a ton, in just 10 months. The cause was a spike in the market for electric vehicles, which were suddenly competing with laptops and smartphones for lithium ion batteries. Demand for the metal won’t slacken anytime soon—on the contrary, electric car production is expected to increase more than thirtyfold by 2030, according to Bloomberg New Energy Finance.

Electric Vehicles sales are booming.And it has only just started...

Electric vehicles sales are booming and along with it the demand for lithium.

“2017 was the year electric vehicles became mainstream” says Macquarie.

In numeric terms, electric vehicle sales in China, the US, Europe, Japan and Canada collectively rose to 1.1 million vehicles, up from 740,000 in 2016. Poignantly, the market share of electric vehicle sales in China was 2.3% up from 1.4%.

Commentators are predicting that vehicle charge points will outnumber petrol stations by 2020 and by 2022 electric vehicles will become cheaper than conventional vehicles.

Governments and car manufacturers are responding.

China, India, France, Britain and Norway have announced plans to ditch gas and diesel vehicles altogether in favour of electric vehicles. At least eight other countries (Austria, Denmark, Ireland, Japan, the Netherlands, Portugal, Korea and Spain) have set official targets for electric sales. And Germany’s Chancellor Angela Merkel has hinted that it is only a matter of time before the country that invented the modern car sets an expiration date of its own.

Car manufacturers are following suit. Volvo will only manufacture hybrids or full electric vehicles from 2019. General Motors has signalled plans to make only electric vehicles at some point in the future. The likes of Ford, Toyota, Mazda, Daimler, Renault, Nissan, Mitsubishi, Jaguar Land Rover and VW are all investing heavily in electric vehicles with new models in production or in planning.

Lithium-ion battery mega factories are springing up all around the world…

Source: TeslaAn artist's rendering of the Tesla Gigafactory

The number of planned lithium-ion battery factories around the world is skyrocketing, according to a report from Benchmark Mineral Intelligence.

There are 26 battery "megafactories" that are either in production and due to expand capacity or new operations due to be in production by 2021, Benchmark said in a recent blog post.

Compare that with just three such plants planned or in production in 2014.

New lithium mines needed to feed the megafactories

Battery makers are going to need more mines to support their production, and they’ll have to build them much more quickly than anyone thought.

Material Components of a Lithium Ion Battery

SOURCE: BLOOMBERG NEW ENERGY FINANCE

Why DR Congo?

The Democratic Republic of Congo (a.k.a. the DRC) is potentially one of the richest countries on earth due to its vast and diverse mineral endowment.

The DRC is expected to be the fastest growing mining market over the next five years according to latest research due to its substantial untapped gold, lithium, cobalt and high grade copper reserves. It is forecast that in excess of US$10 billion will be invested into DRC by major mining companies including Glencore, China Molybdenum, Freeport McMoran, and Ivanhoe Mines

Our Project

The Company’s key focus is its lithium projects – the 70% owned Kitotolo Lithium Project and the 51% owned Kanuka Lithium Project – located in the world class Manono – Kitotolo region of DRC.

In addition, the company has three projects in New South Wales (Australia), the Halls Peak Base Metals Project, the Mt Adrah Gold Project, and the Rocky River – Uralla Gold Project.

Corporate Responsibility

We are committed to building a business that is respectful of the communities we operate in. We do what we can to create infrastructures that help our business to thrive while managing social and environmental impacts. We strive to create mutually beneficial and long-term partnerships with people, clients and communities aligned with our values and long-term goals.